Turkish Troops Killed in Syria Ahead of Erdogan-Putin Summit

(Bloomberg) -- At least three Turkish soldiers were killed in Syria ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Moscow, increasing tensions and threatening the relationship between the two nations.

Erdogan is scheduled to travel to Russia's capital on Thursday in the hopes of convincing President Vladimir Putin to rein in the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and agree to a Turkish-controlled safe zone. Turkey bombed Syrian army targets after attacks on its soldiers on Tuesday and Wednesday, which also left 15 troops wounded.

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Turkey is locked in a fierce battle to halt a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive in Idlib province, the country's last opposition stronghold, which could trigger another exodus of refugees. Turkey has refused a Russian proposal to move its military outposts to the north of Idlib and massed more troops in Idlib.

Tensions soared between Turkey and Russia after an airstrike in Idlib killed 33 Turkish soldiers in a single day on Feb. 27, prompting Erdogan to turn to traditional allies in the West for military support. More than 50 Turkish troops have been killed in Idlib since the beginning of February.

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James Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for Syria, is expected to meet with senior Turkish officials in Ankara on Wednesday. He expressed willingness to provide ammunition to Turkey on Tuesday, but the U.S. hasn't responded to Erdogan's request for Patriot air-defense missiles as a deterrent against Russian and Syrian airstrikes in Idlib.

Faced with yet another refugee wave from Syria, Erdogan opened Turkey's frontier with neighboring Greece and Bulgaria, saying the time has come for the European Union to share the burden of caring for the world's largest refugee population: It's now at about 5 million people, including 3.7 million in Turkey, with another 1-2 million internally displaced people huddled along the Syrian border next to Turkey. Ankara said it was looking for solid steps from its European allies to halt the Syrian offensive in Idlib, and not money for refugees.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara at shacaoglu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate, Paul Abelsky

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